HARPSWELL

The future of an aging water tower at Mitchell Field in Harpswell will likely be determined at a town meeting next month.

The fading, blue structure is a remnant of when the field was used as the Navy’s fuel depot until it was closed in 1992. The town acquired the Mitchell Field property in 2001.

Selectboard Chairman Rick Daniel said the issue has been addressed on and off in past years, but without a concrete proposal for the tower’s reuse, he said the board has discussed the possibility of its demolition once again.

“This tank is becoming a greater liability, and it’s getting worse and not better,” Daniel said. “And in lack of a proposal, the selectboard decided to have the budget advisory look at the possible expenditure of $22,000 to have it taken down and to have that placed on this year’s town warrant.”

In response, resident David Chipman has submitted a petition to preserve the water storage tank, signed by 344 citizens.

The petition requests that the $22,000 be rolled into an account where residents can contribute private dollars and grants for the repair and maintenance of the tower.

“There’s no alternative, and you need to put something in the warrant to follow that so that if that fails, then let’s move forward and do something positive,” Chipman said.

As of Thursday, Town Administrator Kristi Eiane said Chipman’s petition was not complete, as petition circulators have yet to sign an affidavit, swearing that they witnessed the signing of the signatures.

Chipman didn’t think it would delay the process, and expected that the petition would still be ready for the board to review at the next selectmen’s meeting.

“We just have to make it official, which I intend to do today or tomorrow, which will get them to the selectboard in time. The next step is up to them,” he said.

The cost of repairs is currently estimated at $430,000, according to a report performed in July 2014. While its hefty price tag includes a paint job and some minor repairs, most of the items on the price list are optional, said Chipman.

“I’ve since talked to two Maine companies who would be willing to do (the painting) for around $100,000,” he said.

Chipman, who is also chairman of the town’s planning board, said he would be willing to personally donate $1,000 to the cause himself.

“This proposal is a way to fix it up, get it ready to use, so that in following years we can begin to put the infrastructure in and make the waterfront attractive for development,” he said. “We need to begin to move forward, and that’s the problem with Mitchell Field. We’ve wallowed in it for so long — no one’s dared to spend any money. But we need to do something.”

Chipman said Harpswell Neck Fire and Rescue could use the tower, especially as the structure sits behind their building.

“Our proposal is that the fire department be the stewards — that they do the water sampling and check for leaks occasionally in exchange for having practically an unlimited amount of water for fire dispersion,” he said.

Other uses for the tower could also include watering the community gardens or recreational areas at Mitchell Field. A local company is also interested in using the crest of the structure for communication services, Chipman said.

“It’s a very expensive, large sculpture if you don’t do something with it, so certainly there are uses for a 100,000- gallon water reservoir,” he said.

While Daniel noted that he was open to either option, he hoped the solution would be a sensible one.

“Believe me, the board has scratched their heads too over time, and each time we think about putting it on the warrant, we do a sort of fact check and say, ‘have we missed something’ or ‘is there something we can do?’” he said. “And we haven’t come up with (anything) ourselves, but if there’s community support to do something, and it’s a sound idea and there’s a path toward financing, we could get behind it.”

“People have said also that it’s just always been there and it’d be nice to keep it, but I would hope we don’t just invent any ideas to keep it, but that there’s a real use for it,” he said.

dkim@timesrecord.com